Bedtime Stories, Pizza Wars and Daddy Dante
by TsubakiYayoiChan
Summary: The seven-year-old Nero was looking for a home and someone who would accept and care for him. Dante was looking for someone who would make this hollow feeling in his heart go away. One-shots about their new live after they finally found what they were looking for. AU, OOC, Parental!Dante, Kid!Nero
1. Chapter 1: Bedtime Stories

**Summary:** The seven-year-old Nero was looking for a home and someone who would accept and care for him. Dante was looking for someone who would make this hollow feeling in his heart go away. One-shots about their new live after they finally found what they were looking for. AU, OOC, Parental!Dante, Kid!Nero

**A/N:** Hey guys! Before you start to read these one-shots: I'm from Germany, so english isn't my first language and I'm pretty sure I made some mistakes. Should you find some, send me a PM or something like that and I'll correct all the mistakes you found as soon as possible! I would really appreciate it! :3  
The one-shots are all connected to each other.

**Warnings:** Dante and Nero are out of character.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Devil May Cry or the characters!

* * *

_Chapter 1: Bedtime Stories_

He could feel these big, blue eyes, that were a few shades darker than his own, staring at him for at least five minutes now. Dante shifted uncomfortably in his chair, but tried to ignore the glare while his eyes were glued to an old motorbike-magazine he had already read like ten times or so.

Dante really had no clue how to take care of a child, but it would've been heartless to leave the kid outside in the cold, right? He had offered the little sobbing child a place to stay for one night or two... Well, that was already five weeks ago and Nero was still there and was now staring holes into him, because he wanted a bedtime story and Dante had said no. He still didn't really know how to act when the kid was around, he didn't know how to be a father and he was to nice to kick the boy out or to dump him at an orphanage. Besides, Lady and Trish would kill him for that, they loved the boy. Always buying stuff for the short stack with his hard-earned money!

Nero frowned. "Come on, old man!" The kid moved from his spot on the couch over to the white-haired devil-hunter who sat at his usual place with his feet propped up on the old desk. "I said no, kid and now shut it and go to bed!", Dante said as stern as he could and turned from the magazine to glare back at Nero who was now standing right beside him. "And ya know, I'm not old, kiddo!"

There, Nero stood wearing one of Dante's old black t-shirts that was way to big for him (He had no fucking clue why he bought pyjamas for the boy, when the kid with the snowy-white hair was wearing his t-shirts anyway.), holding a book tight in his small hands and started to pout. He tried his best to hold back a chuckle. Nero was too short for his age and now he looked even shorter in the oversized t-shirt. Kinda adorable...

Wait, scratch that last sentence, that was never there!

Dante sighted, scratching the back of his head with his hand. "Fine, but this is an exception. Understood?", he said while standing up and taking the book from the boy, leading him into his room. Nero followed him happily, he knew exactly that Dante would say yes sooner or later. This was already the third 'exception' this week and it was just thursday. Nero knew how to get what he wanted and Dante was, very deep inside of him, a big old softie who just couldn't say no.

And so it'll happen nearly every evening with Dante ending up reading one of those cheesy fairy-tales (God, how he hated them...) to the little boy.

* * *

I know, it's kinda short. Well, it's my first fanfiction ever. ^^' Hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2: Hide-and-Seek

**A/N:** Hey guys! Thank you for all the favs and follows! x3 And a special thanks to SirenaLoreley for the review. ^^ I'm so happy that some people liked the first chapter even if it was kinda short (and boring), lol. And I'm happy that there seemed to be no mistakes in it.  
This chapter is a little bit longer than the first one, I hope you like it!

**Warnings:** Dante and Nero are out of character.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Devil May Cry or the characters!

* * *

_Chapter 2: Hide-and-Seek_

Okay, it was official now: he would never play cards with the boy ever again! Dante didn't know how the midget did it, but he was sure that Nero cheated! How could he lose against the seven-year-old... again? The kid loved it to play cards and to make some stupid bets, so that Dante had to play with him whatever he wanted if the half-demon losed. They were playing hide-and-seek right now, after the devil-hunter had lost another game of cards and with that a bet at the same time. Well, here he was in the middle of his shop, looking for Nero for two hours now! Where in the hell was he? It was pissing him off to no end.

Lady was sitting on Dante's desk, obviously enjoying the sight. She never saw the hunter crawling over the floor before, looking in the kitchen, in the bathroom, under the pool table, behind the couch... quite amusing, really. "Seriously Dante? You saved the world more than once, you're killing various demons everyday, but you can't find one little boy in your own shop? I'm disappointed.", she said mockingly, receiving a glare from said man.

"Just shut the fuck up and help me, damn!", Dante growled. This wasn't funny anymore. He had enough of all those childish games.

"Come on Dante, that wouldn't be fair and no fun at all!", she laughed as Dante's head had an intimate meeting with the edge of the old couch table as he tried to stand up, knocking nearly all the things that were lying on top of it down. Awesome, now he was getting a headache and all the stupid magazines, the tv-remote and some empty pizza-boxes were all over the floor in front of the couch. He cursed under his breath. The kid would definitively pay for this!

* * *

Nero sneezed. God, Dante sucked at this game! Or maybe his hiding place was just too good? Anyway, he was proud of himself. The boy didn't know for how long he was sitting in this small storage room already, but it was quiet a long time, that he was sure of. Well, it was dusty in here and sitting on a bucket between a broom and a mop wasn't really comfortable, but it was fun to tease the white-haired man. He had to sneeze again. It looked like Dante didn't even know he had this room. The devil-hunter and cleaning up? Never!

* * *

Dante started slowly to panic. It was pretty late and he still wasn't able to find the boy. Lady had left Devil May Cry an hour ago or so, she had a mission and would come back later. She wanted to see if Dante would find the boy soon or if he would crawl over the floor for some more hours. Oh, she needed to tell Trish!

_Don't tell me he's in my room..._ Dante thought to himself. Shit, the girls were going to kill him for this! There was... stuff lying around in his room that the kid wasn't supposed to see. Well, not before he was older, much older. Trish told him that children were curious creatures and that Nero would sneak into his room sooner or later just to see what was in there. Dante had told the kid that his room was a big no-no. Maybe he should get rid of all this... stuff or at least hide it somewhere, but that had to wait for now.

Slowly opening the door, Dante peeked inside. Nothing seemed to be off. No Nero under the blanket, no Nero under the bed, no Nero inside the cabinet and no Nero under the dirty pile of clothes. He sighted, maybe the kid was outside? Oh, this was bad, this was really, really bad... He had told the kid not to go out alone. The devil-hunter wasn't worrying about the defenseless boy being attacked by some kind of demon or something like that. He couldn't feel any demons in the area right now, so that wasn't a problem. Dante was worrying about the humans who would be outside at this time. A little kid, all alone in this part of Capulet City this late?

The thought of an injured Nero lying in some dark alleyway made him shudder. He had to hurry! Grabbing his red leather-coat and his beloved guns Ebony and Ivory, Dante was ready to leave.

"Ne, old man-", Nero yawned, "-you're going out to get us some food? I'm hungry.", Nero stated, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He had dozed off a little in the dusty storage room in the basement and just woke up some minutes ago.

Dante turned around slowly, glaring at the kid, not sure what to say. He was angry at Nero, but happy at the same time that he was safe and unharmed. Nero's brows furrowed in confusion. "Something wrong, old man?", he asked curiously. The white-haired man shook his head. "No, everything's fine. But no more hide-and-seek-"

"-because you suck at it?", Nero mocked.

Dante ruffled the kid's hair, receiving a glare from him. "Let's go and get some pizza, kiddo." Even if he didn't like to admit it, he really liked the kid. And he would never forgive himself if something bad would happen to the little boy.

"Nooo, not pizza again.", Nero whined.


	3. Chapter 3: Music

**A/N:** Sorry, it's a short chapter again, but I needed to get that out of my system. D:  
A special thanks to SirenaLoreley, JammersFlood and JigokuNoChou1104 for their reviews. I really appreciate it! :3

**Warnings:** Dante and Nero are out of character.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Devil May Cry or the characters!

* * *

_Chapter 3: Music_

Sometimes, when the devil-hunter wasn't at home, Nero would start the jukebox and would sing along to the songs it was playing. One day, Dante came back home from a mission pretty early and was laughing his ass off when he heard the kid.

"_Going on and on I have the future in my hands-_", the white-haired midget sang with his high and childish voice, using the tv-remote as a 'microphone', but he had stopped right away when he noticed the man. Blushing in embarrassment, he started to hit Dante with his small fists in anger, just causing him to laugh even harder. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!", the kid demanded.

"God, when I tell Lady and Trish about that.", Dante chuckled. He was sure they would find it just as amusing as he did.

Nero glared at him. Oh, if looks could kill... "I'm warning you, old man! If you're mentioning this ever again, then I'll tell them about the 'pancakes' you 'cooked' last week. Some of those things are still crawling around here somewhere!"

Shit. "Okay, okay, fine, you win this round, kiddo.", Dante said while ruffling the boy's hair just to annoy him. He had tried his best to forget about that event. The kitchen had looked like a battlefield after that, broken dishes and all kinds of ingredients were lying around everywhere. He had no clue how the pancakes had turned out like that and some of these black, wobbling things had escaped through the window.

* * *

After Nero had calmed down a bit, he was sitting on the couch and sulked, still cursing under his breath. Suddenly he heard a low voice coming from the kitchen where Dante had went to get a beer and some pizza from the fridge. "_Getting lose from days I never could get over~_", the devil-hunter continued where Nero had stopped singing.

Well, the little boy wasn't a good singer, but at least he had a good taste in music.

"_Going on and on until I'm finally myself..._"

* * *

If you wonder about the song, it's 'Future in my Hands' from the Devil May Cry anime. Dante had said that it's one of his favourite songs and that he had heard the record so often that it didn't even worked anymore because it had got so many scratches over the time.


	4. Chapter 4: Vacation

**A/N:** Yay, Dante and Nero are on vacation! Even if it's just for a weekend...  
I'm so happy about all the lovely reviews I got! Thank you so much SirenaLoreley, JigokuNoChou1104 and JayJay! x3

**Warnings:** Dante and Nero are out of character.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Devil May Cry or the characters!

* * *

_Chapter 4: Vacation_

It had all started with Nero sitting totally fascinated in front of the tv, watching some kind of documentation about the animals in the sea. He never had seen the ocean before, it looked so pretty!

"Ne, old man... Do you were at the ocean before?", Nero asked the devil-hunter who was sitting behind his desk with his feet on top of it. Dante sighed, lifting the magazine off of his face, glaring at the boy who was looking curiously at him. _'No nap for me this afternoon, huh?'_

"Of course, kid. Been there quite often.", he grumbled in response. Nero's face had lighted up at that. "Really? Is it far from here? Can we go there? Please?", the boy asked excited. "Forget it, kiddo. I have demons to kill, you have to go to school and the ocean actually _is_ pretty far from here. I don't plan on being stuck with you in the car for six hours in a row. And by the way-"

"Aww, come on Dante, don't be so mean to the kid~", Trish chirped. That damn woman, she was quiet as a cat! When had she gotten in here? Now it was two against one, so unfair... He already had lost. The boy would complain and whine and annoy him until he would say yes, he knew that.

"What about next weekend, huh? There's no school on weekends you know and Lady and I could stay here for the case that some demons need their asses kicked.", the blond demon offered in a sweet voice.

Okay, that made Dante wary. "Ha! As if I leave you and Lady alone in my shop! Do you remember the last time when I did that? The shop looked like a dump when I came back home! And you still haven't told me what had happened here back then and I'm not even sure if I want to know anymore."

"I told you that we hadn't done anything!"

Dante rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh, sure..."

"Well, nothing illegal..." There was a moment of silence. "Anyway, just look around here, your shop already looks like a dump. It can't get any worse, right?", Trish chuckled.

"Pretty please?" Nero was standing right beside him now. Big, blue eyes were looking up at him and Dante tried his best to avoid them.

"I said no, kid." It hadn't sounded as confident as he wanted it to.

Tears were welling up in Nero's eyes.

"No."

Silent sobbing could be heard.

"... no."

More sobbing...

"Argh, okay, fine, you got me! Do what you want! It's not like somebody is listening to me anyway!", the devil-hunter growled, throwing his arms up in defeat.

A second later a certain white-haired little boy was hugging him tight and Trish couldn't hold back a fit of laughter anymore. What an endearing sight.

"What the hell? Get off, kiddo!", Dante demanded, he never was the cuddly type.

* * *

_Friday_

Dante had just parked the car in front of a hotel that was near the beach with a sleeping Nero on the passenger seat. Luckily the boy had fallen asleep after annoying him for three _fucking_ hours. The kid had to piss like every ten minutes or so and had talked non-stop.

It was a nice friday evening, the girls were at his shop, most possibly throwing a party or something like that and he had the weekend off. Maybe that wasn't so bad after all. He felt kind of burnt out after all those missions he had done in the past weeks and he hadn't spent much time with the boy lately, too. He felt kinda guilty for that, the boy was so attached to him.

After getting out of the car, he walked over to the other side and opened the door. "C'mon short stack, we're there.", he said while poking the boy's cheek to wake him up.

Nero shifted slightly in his seat and rubbed his eyes with his small fists. After a long yawn he hold out his arms into Dante's direction. "Carry me~", he demanded sleepily. But he was ignored and Dante had already walked over to the trunk to get their bags.

Nero pouted. Well, it was worth a try.

* * *

The receptionist was really nice and kinda cute too and she had obviously flirted with Dante. Women really seem to have a thing for single fathers. _'So the boy can be useful after all.'_, the demon-hunter though chuckling.

Said white-haired midget was already lying in his bed, fast asleep. He was out like a candle as soon as his head had hit the pillow.

"Good night, little one.", Dante said while gently putting the blanket over the boy.

* * *

_Saturday_

The next morning Dante had a quite unpleasant awakening. Nero had jumped on top of him, knocking the air out of his lungs. He wasn't prepared for that.

"Wake up, old man! I wanna go to the beach!", the kid who was still sitting on his stomach complained, glaring angrily at him. "You're such a nuisance, you know that?", was Dante's sleepy response.

He suddenly grabbed the boy and threw him down from his bed. Nero landed, ass first, with a loud 'thud' on the floor. "Ow...", he whined. "And you're a meanie!" Dante had just grinned and made his way to the bathroom.

* * *

An hour later, after they had eaten breakfast and had put on their swimming trunks, they were finally standing on the beach. Dante will never forget the face that Nero had made, he never had seen the boy so happy before.

But Nero's mood had changed soon when he felt those stares at him. Dante had told him that he shouldn't be ashamed of his demonic heritage, but Nero still felt really uncomfortable around other people and now there was no way for him to hide his deformed right arm. "Just ignore them.", the man said, ruffling Nero's hair.

* * *

While the devil-hunter, being his lazy self, was lying on a big towel in the sand and enjoying the sun, Nero was doing... stuff. Building sand castles, collecting sea shells and god-knows-what. Dante didn't really paid much attention to that, the hot chicks in bikinis were far more interesting. The only thing he had noticed was that Nero never went near the water. And there he though that jumping into the cool liquid would be the first thing the kid would do.

The boy eventually sat down beside the white-haired man after a while, taking a bottle of lemonade out of the cool box and drinking it out hastily. "Having fun?", Dante ask casually, receiving a nod from the boy. "See that sand castle over there? I built that!", he said, obviously being proud of himself. Dante nodded in acknowledgement, the sand castle really looked impressive. It was quite big and had several colourful sea shells on top of it.

"Don't wanna go swimming?" The devil-hunter was a bit curious about that. Nero looked down onto his feet. "N-no...", he responded quietly.

"You know, you could've just asked me to show you how to swim.", Dante said while standing up and stretching a bit. "You would?", the kid asked taken aback. He though that the man would make fun of him for not knowing how to swim.

"Sure, why not?", Dante answered, taking the boy's hand in his own and dragging him over to the ocean.

Nero stood there frozen, staring at the water in front of him. Dante had already went in, waiting for the kid to join him. "W-what if I drown?", the boy asked with a shaking voice.

The man rolled his eyes. "Ouch, that hurt, kiddo. Do you really think that I let you drown or what? The only thing you have to worry about are the sharks."

"Sharks?", Nero shrieked. He had seen them in the tv, they were so scary! How could he forget about them? _'Me? Going in there? Not happening!'_

Dante laughed. "Just kidding." He hold out his hand and gave the boy a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to you."

* * *

The rest of the day went by uneventful. Nero was a fast learner, Dante had already realised that some months ago when the boy had started to go to school. It was really rare that he had to help the kid with his homework, not that he would complain about that.

Back in their room after they had changed their clothes and had eaten dinner, their usual discussion started. Nero wanted a bedtime story, Dante had said no and the boy would whine until the man would say yes sooner or later.

* * *

_Sunday_

On the next day, Dante couldn't even get the boy out of the water anymore. He always had a wary eye on Nero to make sure that he really wouldn't drown. Sadly, they had to head back to Devil May Cry soon. Six more hours of being stuck in the car with the kid. _'Oh joy...'_ And he didn't even wanted to think about the mess that the girls had probably made in his shop.

Shrugging it off, he went over to Nero. He would enjoy the rest of their stay as much as possible.

* * *

Wow, that was a long chapter. xD And now I wan't to go to beach, too! To bad it's so far away from here. D:

* * *

_Deleted Scene_

Dante: *holds out his hand and smiles* Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to you.

Nero: Are you insane, old man? As if I go in there! *turns around and runs away*

Dante: Wha- Hey, come back here, damn kid! *runs after him*

~10 minutes and several curses later~

Nero: What the hell?! Let me down, old man! *hits Dante*

Dante: *throws the boy into the water* Time to learn how to swim, short stack.


	5. Chapter 5: Lost

**A/N:** Sorry that the update took so long. Stupid Windows 7 suddenly stopped working and I lost all my documents, pictures and so on... -.- Anyway, I'm glad that I could fix it somehow and that I had already uploaded this document here. ^^ Stupid pile of metal! Maybe I should get a new computer, that thing is still causing problems.  
Thanks to SirenaLoreley and JigokuNoChou1104 for their reviews and thanks for all the new favourites and follows!

**Warnings:** Dante and Nero are out of character.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Devil May Cry or the characters!

* * *

_Chapter 5: Lost_

Nero was sitting outside on the doorstep of Devil May Cry. It was a rainy day in october and the air was kinda chilly. Said little boy didn't mind that at all, he was sitting here every day after school since two weeks now. You should know that, exactly two weeks ago, Dante had left for a mission in a town far away from Capulet City somewhere in the north. He had said that the job would take three or four days and that he would be back as soon as possible.

That wasn't the first time that the 'old man', how Nero always liked it to call him, was doing a job like this. But usually Dante would give him a call when the mission would take a little longer than expected. This time that call never came and that was when the boy started to worry.

The door behind Nero opened. "Come in, sweetie. It's getting dark and I made dinner for you." Nero just merely nodded and followed Trish inside. After taking off his shoes and his jacket, he went into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. He was hungry, but didn't really felt like eating something now.

"Uhm, Trish? The old man will be back soon, right?", Nero asked the blond woman who placed a plate with food in front of him. That was one of the things he liked about her. She could cook and he didn't have to eat pizza everyday when she was looking after him while Dante was on a mission. Lady was okay too, but she was a bit scary with that huge bazooka on her back.

"Don't worry, Nero. I'm sure he will.", she said with a fake smile while sitting down at the table too. That wasn't true. Yes, Dante was strong, but even he wasn't invincible and there is always someone who is stronger than you, right? She already had the worst case scenario in her mind. That was just so untypical Dante, leaving for so long without giving a call, especially since the boy was living here with him. Lady had thought the same and had left some days ago to went after him. She wanted to make sure that everything was alright and she just couldn't stand the sight of a crying Nero.

The boy poked the vegetables on his plate with the fork. Even he knew that something was wrong, it was obvious. What if the man would never come back? After some more minutes of heavy silence he shoved the plate away from him and went upstairs into his room. He just couldn't stand the thought.

Trish sighed, she couldn't do anything the kid. _'Poor thing...'_

* * *

It happened some days later, while Trish was out to buy groceries, that the doors to Devil May Cry opened and a white-haired man in a red leather-coat came in. Nero, who was sitting on the couch, stared at him wide-eyed. Dante looked horrible. His clothes ripped and soaked with blood and he looked tired, so tired.

The little boy suppressed the urge to cry as best as he could.

He was angry! Stupid old man, leaving him alone for so long! Making him worry so much, making him think that he's dead, making him feel abandoned...

"Hey there, kid.", Dante just said in a low voice while he slowly walked over to the boy and sat down beside him. He closed his eyes and exhaled, he finally could get some rest and maybe there's some food in the fridge just waiting for him to devour it~

One minute after another went by, none of them saying word.

It was Dante who broke the silence. "Missed me, short stack? I met Trish on my way here and heard some rumors.", he chuckled.

"As if, old man!", Nero pouted, obviously embarrassed and trying to avoid Dante's eyes.

"You did."

"N-no!"

Dante ruffled Nero's hair. "I'm sorry, won't happen again."

He smacked the devil-hunter's hand away. "You're deaf, old man? I said I didn't..."

He was sobbing, big tears rolling down his cheeks. "Don't do that ever again...", Nero said quietly. He was just happy that he hadn't lost the only one who had ever really cared for him. It would've broken his little, fragile heart.

* * *

Aww, poor Nero. T^T Be more careful Dante! D:


	6. Chapter 6: Led Away

**A/N: **Finally the chapter where you'll find out how the paths of Dante and little Nero crossed! Thanks to all the reviewers and the new followers! ^-^**  
**

**Warnings:** Dante and Nero are out of character.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Devil May Cry or the characters!

* * *

_Chapter 6: Led Away_

"But-"

"No buts Dante! Get your lazy ass up and do your job! You still have debts to pay, don't forget that."

It was in the middle of december and in a certain shop a certain devil-hunter and a woman with short brown hair with a huge bazooka on her back were arguing. It was so cold outside that even demons didn't want to come out which Dante was quite happy about. He had some days off, yay! But just when he had made himself comfortable on the old leather-couch and zapped through the tv-channels Lady came bashing in and said she had a mission for him. Even the thought of going out there already made him shudder. And where was this 'Fortuna' anyway? Must be far away if he never heard of it before.

"Why don't you do it yourself if the job is so well paid, huh?", the man asked annoyed.

"Me, going out there? Are you insane?", Lady chuckled.

"You seem to think so. I'm. Not. Going. End of discussion!"

"You still owe me some money you lazy bastard! You. Are. Going. End of discussion!" And with that she left the shop before Dante could reply. Cold air was flowing in from the outside making it even colder in the shop than it already was before the doors closed behind the woman and a motorbike driving off could be heard just some seconds later.

He picked up the note Lady had left on the couch table. Some frosts in Fortuna... Can't be that hard, right? And it was well paid, too. Dante looked out of the window, it wasn't even snowing anymore because it was too cold and there were already some traces of snow flowers on the thin glass. This just wasn't his day. _'Dammit...'_

The white-haired man stood up, sighing. The demons could still wait a little bit longer, right? He wanted to shower and to eat some pizza first before he would go out and freeze his sexy ass off.

* * *

Well, no matter how cold it was, Capulet City looked beautiful in winter. The fresh, white snow covered the dirty ground and swallowed every single sound in the night. So the streets that were so crowded in the daytime and that were decorated with a lot of colourful lights, inviting possible costumers into the shops to buy some christmas presents for their beloved ones, were silent. Dante didn't care at all. He was busy with cursing his car for not having a functioning car heater and he didn't like this time of the year anyway, it was a time you spent with your family and he hadn't one anymore.

Yeah, he was sure he would freeze to death in his own car before arriving in Fortuna. Maybe it was a little bit warmer on the small island because it was down in the south, he would really appreciate it. Usually it would take the demon-hunter four or five hours to get to the said town (that was what he guessed), but the street's surface was icy and he never was there before, he was sure that he would get lost one time or another, so it would take him a bit longer to get there. Wonderful!

Dante already had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

He arrived in Fortuna in the next morning and to say that he was in a bad mood was an understatement. He didn't even tried to flirt with that hot women who was staying in the hotel room next to his own. So his client who was sitting in front of him now started to feel quite uncomfortable with being in the same room as the moody Dante. "Just some frosts, right?", the devil-hunter asked.

The client nodded. "T-that's right.", the chubby man answered a bit nervous. "The Order already tried to get rid of them, but no matter how many they kill, they're always coming back. There must be a nest near the town. We want you to find it and to kill them all!"

Dante nodded in acknowledgment even if he had no clue about that Order-thing and he didn't care as long as he got paid. "Alright, that shouldn't take too long.", he said while taking the money he got in advance from the table. He holstered his guns and grabbed his sword and wanted to leave the room.

"Wait, there's more Mr. ..."

The devil-hunter stopped and turned around. "Dante is fine."

"Well, these demons seem to be attracted by something that is inside the town. So we need you to get rid of that too, but I guess we can discuss this later.", the man explained.

Dante gave him a curious look. Lady didn't mention that before.

He shoved the thoughts aside and nodded, going outside. Even in Fortuna it was freezing, much to Dante's discomfort.

To find the nest was kinda easy, a cave near the coast was the perfect hiding place for them. It was cold and dark. The demon-hunter stood outside the cave and could already hear the demon's roars and could smell their stinky bodies from miles away. His mood got better by the thought of crushing some icy armors and bones. And as soon as gun-shots and piercing dying-screams started to fill the air, Dante had chopped the head of the last bloodthirsty creature off and it was quiet again. But there was still that weird feeling that made him feel uneasy.

* * *

The chubby man seemed to be pleased by how fast Dante had killed these demons and was more than happy to give him the rest of the payment. Well, he had done the dirty work for them and didn't destroy any buildings or anything like that (which was quite rare, he was surprised himself). It was already pretty late, but he wanted to get out of Fortuna as soon as possible, so he went to the client's office to get the informations about the other job that was waiting for him.

"So, what is that other thing you talked about? My 'partner' didn't told me about that before.", Dante asked, sitting down on a chair. He felt like he was in a hospital, the man's office wasn't just tidy, it was sterile.

His client opened one of the desk drawers, obviously looking for something and found it just some moments later. "Ah, here we have it.", the man said and gave Dante a picture. "I want you to get rid of it.", he added. The devil-hunter's eyes widened.

"I'm not hunting humans.", Dante said, his voice dripping with disgust.

"I know, you're a devil-hunter and I would never ask you to kill a human. Take a closer look, that thing _is_ a demon and it's causing us trouble everyday! But that sneaky thing always get's away."

The 'thing' that the man was talking about was a little boy, maybe five or six years old. Pale, short, thin and with unusual white hair. He looked a little bit like Dante when he was a kid himself. So, okay, the boy looked weird, but he was far from looking 'demonic'. That was until he noticed the kid's right arm. Was it... black? And where there blue scales on it? _'Another half-demon?'_ Things were getting complicated now. Should he just leave? He already had gotten his payment and he wasn't planning on killing some poor kid. But then they would just get someone else to kill the boy.

And if he really was a half-demon just like Dante... "Fine, I 'get rid' of him.", he simply stated and left. He just hated this disgusting man now and couldn't stand his sight anymore. Killing a child, unforgivable.

He made his way back to the hotel. He never met another half-demon beside his brother before, well, if the boy really was one. Dante still couldn't really tell until he met the boy himself. The devil-hunter felt sorry for the poor thing, being stuck on this island were everyone hated him because he was different. Dante had it easy, no human could tell the difference between him and a normal human. He would just grab the boy and get out of here and find a place where he could stay. The only problem was that he had no clue were the midget could be, Fortuna wasn't really a small town.

* * *

The next morning came faster than expected. Dante barely got any sleep, too many thoughts were racing through his mind all night long. He showered, put his clothes on and skipped breakfast. He had to hurry and find the boy before some else did.

Wait, what the hell was wrong with him all of a sudden? It seemed that his demon-side got kinda nervous. _'Calm down.'_

Dante left the hotel and inhaled the fresh morning air. It was still cold... no, freezing outside and the streets were empty. Where should he look first? Crap, that would take the whole fucking day. Asking the people in the stores wasn't a big help either. No one wanted to talk about the 'cursed child', about the 'monster' that was attracting demons and caused so many problems.

So he was running around in Fortuna and didn't even know where he really was anymore. That was until he caught an interesting scent. Somehow demonic but human at the same time mixed with dirt and another foul smell. The kid needed a bath that was for sure. He followed that trace through some dark alleyways and empty streets and stopped suddenly when he saw said midget across a street sitting in a dark corner on the frozen ground.

Dante being Dante just walked over, grabbed the boy who yelped in surprised by his collar, lifted him up and took a close look at the squirming kid. There was no mistake about it now. He was not a full human but not a full demon either.

"L-let me down, old man!", the kid demanded, still trying to get free from Dante's grip.

"O-old man?" Dante was shocked! He was just 31 years old! He wasn't old at all, was he? "Negative kid, you're coming with me.", he said while throwing the boy over his shoulder, small fists hitting his back now.

"We're leaving this shitty place.", the demon-hunter simply stated and started to walk.

"L-leaving?", the kid stuttered.

"Yeah. Or do you want to stay here so badly?" He still didn't know where the boy could live in the future, but the midget could stay at his shop for a day or two. Dante was sure that one of the girls would've an idea.

The kid just shook his head and stopped struggling, realising that it was useless. Every other place would be better than Fortuna anyway and he wouldn't wait for the Order to get him and there was just something familiar about the man. He couldn't tell what it was though.

* * *

_There's no place in the world where I could belong, and yet..._  
_"Let's leave together." You led me away..._

IA - A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night

* * *

So, there you have it! It was a little bit weird to write about winter and christmas and all that stuff when it's in the middle of summer. xD Anyway, I hope you like it and sorry for skipping the fighting scene. D:


	7. Chapter 7: Snow Falling

**A/N:** Wow, the last update was like two weeks ago. Sorry, I was so busy and my computer still isn't working as it should! D: Anyway, thanks for the reviews and favourites and thanks to all the new followers!  
This chapter is kind of a continuation of chapter 6. Hope you like it. :3

**Warnings:** Dante and Nero are out of character.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Devil May Cry or the characters!

* * *

_Chapter 7: Snow Falling_

She was confused, kind of. Her mismatching eyes wandered from the white-haired man behind the desk, who had a magazine in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other, to the little boy on the old red leather-couch who was watching some kind of catoon. Then back again.

"Dante, who's that little cutie?", Trish asked the man what Lady already had in her mind.

He didn't even bothered to look up from his magazine and, "Nero.", was the brisk answer they got. That earned him a glare from both women who definitely were expecting a more detailed answer.

Dante sighed, deciding to better satisfy their curiosity before they jumped to conclusions. "I met him in Fortuna, he is a half-devil too I think, they would've killed him if I had left him there."

"Aw, has the son of Sparda a soft spot for children?", Lady asked mockingly. They'll never let him live this down that was for sure. "Argh, shut up Lady! Any suggestions where he can stay from now on?"

Nero glared at them. They talked about him like he wasn't even here in the same room. Trish sat down beside him, ruffling the kid's hair who just glared at her even more. "Well, you brought him here, so you're responsible for him, ne?"

The man chuckled. "Yeah, a kid in Devil May Cry. I'm sure this will work out just fine."

"Well, maybe you finally learn to take some responsibility and you two look so much alike, I wouldn't wonder if he is yours anyway."

"I'm not that bad, Lady."

"Uh-huh."

Nero was wandering around in the shop in the meantime, trying his best to stay away from this weird blond woman who seemed to want to cuddle him to death. He didn't like to get so much attention.

"Listen Dante, if he really is a half-devil as you say, then it would be the best for him to stay with another half-devil, wouldn't it?" Trish stood up and made her way over to the door. "And of course I agree with that what Lady said.", she added chuckling.

"You really leave me alone with the brat? I don't even have a clue what to do with him!"

"Give him some food, a bath and send him to bed. It's not that hard." And with that Lady exited the shop together with Trish. The next days would be funny, they could buy the boy a lot of toys and cute clothes with Dante's credit card. The devil-hunter could hear them laughing outside and sighed in defeat. _'Awesome...'_

Dark-blue eyes met light-icy ones and they stared at each other for around a minute before Nero broke the silence. "I'm not happy with that either, old man. You kidnapped me!"

"Okay, kid. Rule number one: Don't call me that, I'm not that old!"

"Hmpf..."

"My house, my rules, kid." He stood up and stretched a bit before entering the kitchen to get his new unwanted roommate a pizza from the fridge. A look through the window cheered him up a little bit. It started to snow again, it was getting warmer.


End file.
